Posted by MAX on 7/9/2009, 11:20 am
205.188.116.6
1. Oklahoma State
Top 100 Recruits: No. 3 Chris Perry (Stillwater, OK), No. 11 Jon Morrison (Carl Sandburg, IL), No. 21 Dallas Bailey (Catoosa, OK), No. 53 Ladd Rupp (Perry OK), No. 71 Zach White (Woodward OK)
Impact Transfers: Mike Benefiel (Northwestern/Montini, IL), Albert White (North Iowa Area CC/St. Rita, IL)
Impact Newcomer: Alan Gelogaev (Russia)
Other Notable Recruit: Blake Rosholt (Ponca City, OK)
Commentary: Two of the best wrestlers from the Class of 2007 combine with five of the best high school wrestlers in the nation this year to provide the Cowboys a staggering recruiting haul. This group should help assure that Oklahoma State returns to the top of the NCAA leader board, and stays there for a while, a position from which they had a rare absence this past season. Morrison is a two-time Junior Nationals champion in freestyle, while Perry earned that title this past season.
2. Minnesota
Top 100 Recruits: No. 22 Alec Ortiz (Newberg, OR), No. 30 David Thorn (STMA, MN), No. 49 Tony Nelson (Cambridge-Isanti, MN), No. 84 Kevin Steinhaus (Kurkhoven-Murdock Sunburg, MN)
Impact Newcomer: Jake Deitchler (USOTC/Anoka, MN)
Other Ranked Recruits: Bart Reiter (Don Bosco, IA), 20th at 135; Jake Kettler (Anoka, MN), 18th at 285
Other Notable Recruits: Pat Smith (Chaska MN), Danny Zilverberg (Wayzata MN)
Commentary: This is a strong group of recruits for head coach J Robinson, and provides wrestlers that project to almost every single weight class. Deitchler, a 2008 Olympian in Greco-Roman, should be an immediate starter at 157 pounds. Ortiz, Thorn, and Nelson were Junior National All-Americans in freestyle this past summer.
3. Oklahoma
Top 100 Recruits: No. 7 Jake Kemerer (Hempfield, PA), No. 18 Matt Lester (Eureka, MO), No. 28 Alex Ekstrom (Palmyra-Macedon, NY), No. 49 Tyler Caldwell (Goddard, KS), No. 86 Nick Lester (Eureka, MO)
Other Ranked Recruits: Jarrod Patterson (Cushing, OK), 20th at 130; Kendrick Maple (Wichita Heights, KS), 14th at 135
Other Notable Recruits: Bobby Williams (Tuttle, OK), Kyle Detmer (Wichita Bishop Carroll, KS), Nolan McBryde (Chugiak, AK), Joe Lospinoso (David Brearley, NJ)
Commentary: Three straight seasons outside of the top ten at the NCAA tournament have moved head coach Jack Spates onto the hot seat according to some fans in the wrestling community. However, this is the type of recruiting class that -- if it can perform based on high school credentials -- can return the Sooners into the upper tier of programs nationwide. Of the 11 listed here, only Lospinoso did not win a state title this season. However, Lospinoso -- along with Maple -- was an All-American at the NHSCA Senior Nationals.
4. Nebraska
Top 100 Recruits: No. 20 Caleb Kolb (Grove City, PA), No. 27 David Klingsheim (Brentwood Liberty, CA), No. 41 CJ Napier (Columbus, KS), No. 70 Cody Compton (NorthCo, MO), No. 75 Kyle Waldo (Nebraska)
Other Notable Recruit: Michael Klinginsmith (Kearney Catholic, NE)
Commentary: Coming off of two consecutive fourth-place finishes at the NCAA tournament, this group of recruits will be well-equipped to build upon that momentum when they become a part of Mark Manning's lineup. All six of these wrestlers were state champions this past season. Napier and Compton earned championships at the NHSCA Senior Nationals, while Kolb and Waldo finished in the top four.
5. Iowa
Top 100 Recruits: No. 10 Tony Ramos (Glenbard North, IL), No. 15 Derek St. John (Iowa City West, IA), No. 17 Ethen Lofthouse (Mountain Crest, UT), No. 56 Dylan Carew (Iowa City West, IA)
Other Notable Recruit: Nick Trizzino (Bettendorf, IA)
Commentary: The two-time defending champions, led by head coach Tom Brands, have found yet another group of tough, talented, and physical wrestlers to don the Hawkeye black and gold for the next four to five years. Anchoring this group is a trio of wrestlers -- Ramos, St. John, and Lofthouse -- that finished inside of the top three at the Junior National Freestyle Championships last summer in Fargo, North Dakota.
6. Penn State
Top 100 Recruits: No. 1 David Taylor (Graham, OH), No. 5 Ed Ruth (Blair Academy, NJ)
Impact Transfer: Cyler Sanderson (Iowa State/Wasatch, UT)
Other Notable Recruit: Luke Macchiaroli (Corona, AZ)
Commentary: What this group lacks in quantity, it more than makes up for in quality. New head coach Cael Sanderson inherited Ruth, who signed in the early period under the previous Penn State coaching staff. Two incoming freshmen -- Taylor and Macchiaroli -- had signed National Letters of Intent to wrestle for Sanderson at Iowa State. However, when Sanderson left, they were released and chose to join the coached that had recruited them in Happy Valley. Also coming along with Cael Sanderson is his brother Cyler, who will be a senior this coming season, and was an All-American in 2008 at 157 pounds.
7. Virginia
Top 100 Recruits: No. 16 Jon Fausey (Line Mountain, PA), No. 34 Zach Clemente (LaSalle, NY), No. 83 Nicky Gordon (Wyoming Seminary, PA)
Impact Transfer: Matt Snyder (Bloomsburg/Lewistown, PA)
Other Notable Recruits: Andrew Williams (Tabb, VA), Stephen Doty (Kirkwood, MO), Jon Becker (Bergen Catholic, NJ)
Commentary: Going back to his days as an assistant coach at Cornell, Steve Garland had a reputation as being one of the nation's best recruiters. This class, his third full group as head coach at Virginia -- which is his alma mater -- confirms the reputation. It addresses needs in the lower half of the lineup as well as the upperweights (other than 285). Fausey and Clemente were Junior National All-Americans in freestyle last summer.
8. Virginia Tech
Top 100 Recruits: No. 19 Andrew Clement (Grassfield, VA), No. 72 Brian Stephens (Graham, OH), No. 81 Erik Spjut (The Woodlands, TX)
Other Notable Recruits: Cody Tyler (Oak Park, MO), John Hayden Countryman (Prattville, AL), Taylor Knapp (Collins Hill, GA), Justin Armstrong (Bishop Lynch, TX)
Commentary: Heading into the fourth year of the post-Brands era, Kevin Dresser has the program going in a very positive direction, and this group of recruits will do nothing but to accelerate that progression. Six of these recruits were state champions this past scholastic season. The only one not to win a state-level type this season was Armstrong; however, he won a preseason title at the Super32 Challenge -- a tournament also won by Clement.
9. Michigan
Top 100 Recruits: No. 2 Erik Grajales (Brandon, FL), No. 12 Dan Yates (Hesperia, MI), No. 32 Sean Boyle (Blair Academy, NJ)
Other Notable Recruits: Pete Rendina (Dundee, MI), Brandon Zeerip (Hesperia, MI)
Commentary: In recent years, the Michigan Wolverines have been without quality production from wrestlers in the opening two weights. Two of Joe McFarland's recruits in this class address that problem head on. Boyle, a projected 125-pound wrestler, was champion at the NHSCA Senior Nationals. Grajales, a projected 133/141 wrestler, has been an All-American on multiple occasions in Fargo. Both wrestlers could be in the running for immediate roles as starters. Like Boyle, Yates was also a champion at the NHSCA Senior Nationals this past April in Virginia Beach.
10. Ohio State
Top 100 Recruits: No. 6 Collin Palmer (St Edward, OH), No. 42 Ian Paddock (Warsaw, NY), No. 87 Nick Heflin (Massillon Perry, OH)
Other Notable Recruit: Jacob Vaughan (Columbus DeSales, OH), 12th at 130
Commentary: Coming off of back-to-back runners-up at the NCAA tournament under Tom Ryan, the Buckeyes have brought in another quality group of wrestlers. Leading that group is four-time state champion Palmer, whose brother Lance has earned NCAA All-American honors in all three seasons of his college career to date. Paddock, Heflin, and Vaughan all earned All-American honors at the NHSCA Senior Nationals.
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